Children's Day children at tsunami camp receive LTTE bullets as gifts

Much is spoken and written about children in this month of October to coincide with universal World Children's Day (24th October) as recognized by the UN, but for those self-proclaimed “sole representatives of the Tamils” it meant nothing except for their continuing cycle of violence.

Prabhakaran Indika is seven years of age and Navaratnam Sashidaran is only four years old. Both those disaster-struck minors are housed at Zahira College Tsunami camp at Batticaloa (Thiruchenthoor Welfare Centre) after their homesteads were washed away in the tidal waves that struck the area in December, last year.

It was the bright sunny forenoon on 23rd October 2005 at 8.45 in the morning. Both minors as usual after getting themselves ready to go for prayers (poojas) at the nearby Hindu Kovil (temple) walked out in the camp compound to pluck some fresh flowers as offerings to Hindu deities. Within seconds it was a thunderbolt that came on their way as Tamil Tigers who had infiltrated the complex indiscriminately began to fire a rain of bullets on the nearby sentry point of the Security Forces. Both flower-collecting minors and a soldier providing security received serious injuries in the LTTE gunfire as hundreds of frightened tsunami victims at the sound of gunfire began to run helter-skelter in panic. As inmates screamed out in terror and the scene turned chaotic with bleeding children and the soldier at their front, Tamil Tiger gunmen secretly mingled with the public and fled the location. Gunmen have taken cover behind a wall and directed fire, the Police confirmed.

More importantly, troops at the risk of their own lives refrained from retaliating the enemy fire lest members of the public would fall victim to their gunfire. In fact it was what those terror tactics were meant for but troops, instead rushed all three wounded persons to the Batticaloa hospital and brought the situation under control.

Several Tamil Tiger attempts to abduct children from this Centre in the recent past were thwarted by alert Security Forces after many inmates and parents rose against Tamil Tiger abduction moves. Policemen assisted by troops were subsequently deployed at this Centre after numerous complaints were received from inmates about various Tamil Tiger atrocities and harassment inside the camp premises where hundreds of displaced families still remain housed. On the contrary, Tamil Tigers were more interested in abducting children from this Centre than attending to the needs of those refugees, inmates complained to the troops.